Bone Thugs N Harmony, , Bizzy, Wish, Krazie, Lazie, Flesh

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony is an American hip hop group from the Glenville section of Cleveland, Ohio. They are best known for their high paced rapping style and harmonizing vocals. In 1997, the group was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance with their song "Tha Crossroads". Since its conception in the early 1990s the group has been honored with numerous other awards.

Early years

[edit] Faces of Death

Formed in the early 1990s, the group consisted of five members: Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Wish Bone, Bizzy Bone and Flesh-n-Bone. Their first album, Faces of Death, was recorded in 1993 under the name B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e. Their career took off after heading to Los Angeles in search of famous producer and N.W.A. member Eazy-E. In hopes of securing a record deal, the group was given an audition over the phone receiving an unfulfilled promise from Eazy to call them back. Discovering that Eazy-E was performing back in their hometown of Cleveland, the group took a charter bus back hoping to have another chance, this time in person. The chance was given backstage as they auditioned, which resulted in them signing a contract with Ruthless Records

Released in June 1994, the EP Creepin on ah Come Up was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's debut with Ruthless Records and its first introduction into super stardom. After a slow start that saw the album's success limited to gangsta rap audiences, it broke through to the mainstream with the release of the singles "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Foe tha Love of $," the second of which featured a verse by Eazy-E. The sound was raw and explicit, while the lyrics were violent and aggressive. Songs poured out feelings of anger against society for growing up on the violent and economically oppressed streets of Cleveland. Videos for the mega hits "Foe tha Love of $" and "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" increased the group's reputation among audiences. Beats were supplied by Kenny McCloud, Rhythm D, DJ Yella, and newcomer DJ U-Neek. The album was later certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.

[edit] E 1999 Eternal

While Creepin' On Ah Come Up's subject matter was focused almost entirely on violent criminal activity, E 1999 Eternal saw Bone diversify its content and musical stylings. It debuted at #1 with 307,000 copies sold in its first week.[citation needed] The G-Funk style beats were smoothed by DJ U-Neek (with co-production from Tony C and Kenny McCloud). A considerable portion of the album's concept was built upon violent subject matter, yet Bone proved its ability to incorporate deeper themes, as its songs dealt with more spirituality and occult mysticism. E 1999 Eternal also introduced Bone's trademark tracks devoted entirely to the consumption of marijuana. Eazy-E got the idea for the cover artwork from the apocalyptic movie Terminator 2 as Bone, collectively, had a mental fixation that the world was going to end in 1999.

E 1999 Eternal remains Bone's most successful venture in terms of sales and notoriety, as it went on to sell more than 10 million copies worldwide[citation needed] and was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA.

[edit] The Art of War

In 1997, the group released the double-disc set The Art of War, backed by the single "Look into My Eyes", which also appeared on the soundtrack of the film Batman & Robin. The album saw Bone further explore a wide variety of subjects and styles, with even more focus on God and family and an overall more ambient, mellow sound. The group still incorporated violent lyrics, though, with a large portion of the album dedicated to what they labeled "clones" who claimed Bone had stolen their quick-tongued rapping style and vice-versa. The Chicago-based rap group Crucial Conflict was targeted by name, with indirect disses thought to be aimed at Twista, Three 6 Mafia, and Do or Die. The album also included "Thug Luv" with Tupac Shakur. The album is also influenced by the book of the same name by author Sun Tzu. The Art of War philosophy is littered throughout the album. While the album had initial success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 (with 394,000 copies sold in the first week), it failed to have much staying power. Besides "Look Into My Eyes" (which charted at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100), the only other single was "If I Could Teach the World", which won an American Music Award. The group's efforts were further dampened by the absence of Bizzy Bone from the album's videos and large portions of the ensuing tour and public appearances. This absence fueled rumors of a break-up. The album was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA (with each album sold counting as two units under the association's certification guidelines).

[edit] BTNHResurrection

In 2000, Bone delivered BTNHResurrection, their first group album to prominently feature Flesh-n-Bone, whose presence was limited on previous releases because he had never signed with the group's label Ruthless Records. With Flesh-n-Bone appearing on fourteen of the album's sixteen songs, Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone took a lesser role, appearing on nine and eight songs, respectively. The album's first half featured a slew of hardcore and dark tracks, with the second half being considerably more introspective and soft. The album also featured one of the group's biggest singles, "Resurrection (Paper, Paper) in which only reached Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles in 126#

Shortly before the album's release, Flesh-n-Bone was arrested and the group again began having public disputes with Bizzy Bone, having missed out on the promotional tour and appearances. The album debuted at #2 on the charts, selling 283,000 copies in its first week, but again the group ran into problems with staying power. The three singles from the album all failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100 and the big-budget video for "Change the World" failed to receive any rotation.

[edit] Thug World Order

In 2000, member Flesh-n-Bone was sentenced to eleven years in prison for threatening a neighbor with an AK-47. Eligible for parole in 2008, he currently is housed in Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California. In late 2001, the group returned to the studio to record their next release thanks to Rick Robinson aka Double R, (Bizzy Bone's manager at the time) ,Steve Lobel (Layzie Bone's manager at the time) They had the guys come back together for Mid-Town Fest in the ATL ,Ga. , Thug World Order. By February 2002, the album was complete and turned out to be their last release on Ruthless Records.

[edit] After Ruthless

[edit] Bone 4 Life

In September 2005, DJ U-Neek released an internet-only enhanced CD called Bone 4 Life, featuring six new tracks produced by DJ U-Neek and a behind the scenes video. It was only available to order for a week.

[edit] Thug Stories

Thug Stories, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's sixth album, was recorded on Koch Records and released in September 2006. It marked the first time Bone Thugs-n-Harmony recorded as a trio for a full album, as troubled former member Bizzy Bone was finally ousted. This album was the group's first full-release since 2002's Thug World Order. Thug Stories sold 38,000 in its first week and peaked at #25 on the Billboard 200. The album featured a slightly more mature style and the group leaned heavily towards its harmonic roots than its "thug" origins.

[edit] Strength & Loyalty

Originally to be called The Bone Thugs Story, the Strength & Loyalty release date was May 8, 2007. Being their first major album after an absence of nearly five years, the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on iTunes and the Billboard Urban Music charts. The album contains guest appearances by Mariah Carey, The Game, will.i.am, Akon, Twista, Bow Wow, Yolanda Adams and Felecia. Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" is sampled strongly for "Wind Blow."

Producers on the album included Swizz Beatz, Akon, DJ Toomp, Jermaine Dupri, will.i.am, and others. The executive producer of the album was Swizz Beatz. Bone's video "I Tried" (Directed by Rich Newey) was launched on March 7, 2007, their first single from the album Strength and Loyalty, followed by the second single "Lil Love". This album and Bone were nominated for the Favorite Album (Rap/Hip-Hop) and Favorite Band/Group (Rap/Hip-Hop) on American Music Awards 2007[1] Bone Thugs-n-Harmony won the award for favorite Band/Group. As of March 18, 2008, it has sold over 800,000 copies.

[edit] T.H.U.G.S.

T.H.U.G.S. is an album that has unreleased Bone Thugs-n-Harmony songs that didn't make it to the BTNHResurrection and Thug World Order albums. It was released on November 13, 2007 by their former record label, Ruthless Records. The single off the album is entitled "Young Thugs." Ruthless Records recently released a music video of the single and features Bizzy Bone.

[edit] I Tried (The Bone Thugs Movie)

Bone has also released a movie titled I Tried (directed by Rich Newey), which was originally named "What If..." The topic of the movie is how different the lives of Krayzie, Layzie and Wish would have been if they never have been rap artists. The cover of the DVD is on their official website. The movie was released in stores on September 25th. All three current members did an interview with DJBooth.net to talk about the project.[2]

[edit] Style and technique

Known mostly for their flow rather than lyricism, Bone's style and technique can be described as melodic yet dark and aggressive. Their flow is often interwoven at a high speed melodic pace or slow harmonic pace. They also tend to ride the beat that they're rapping over. Sometimes there are very few choruses separating their verses from one another. In the beginning, circa Faces of Death, Bone used a pseudo-Jamaican patois delivery with their trademark style, though they rarely do this now. Bone's subject matter has both spiritual and occult undertones (e.g., "Hell Sent", "Intro", "Mr. Ouija", "Mr. Ouija 2" and "Da Introduction"). At first, their subject matter was almost always exclusively about violence and smoking marijuana Today, however, their subject matter includes other topics such as urban socio-political issues. Besides minor changes to subject matter and sound, their lyrical style, locution, and overall methodology remain intact.